Stefan Barton Bio:

Stefan Barton
-The Artist  

Bio:

Stefan Barton is a German artist residing in the US since 1990, first in San Francisco and then relocating to the Boston area in 2002, where he now paints, prints and teaches. His art has been exhibited in many galleries in San Francisco, Portland, OR, Boston, Cambridge and at the Stanford University.

About the Process:

Collagraphs, generally speaking, are a type of mono-print pulled from collaged plates. Mine utilize illustration board to provide a support base for the collage. Gesso protects the plate from the printing ink, and seals in the various media used for the collage, which can include paper, tissue paper, sawdust, or fabric. Various textured acrylic media are applied to the plate to create a diversity of tone and value on the prints. Deep, intriguing colors-created by a multiple-drop process that creates layers of color-enhance the unique textures produced by the collaged plate. The prints that result from this collection of processes are beautiful and full of transparent light and color.

The subjects of the prints take advantage of these aesthetic qualities to explore the intersection of the abstract and the representative. Each piece is inspired by forms that arise from the interplay of order and disorder, where structures and patterns emerge, where aesthetic observations and choices can be made. There I find meaning and inspiration to express my interest in complexity, the origin and application of consciousness and our perception of reality.

Review: Stefan Barton - Collagraphs and Paintings

Viewing Stefan Barton's paintings and collagraph prints is like approaching a venerable space or monument. Their world is dark, dominated by large dimensional objects and embellished with mysterious calligraphy. There is, according to his Artist's Statement, a meaning which is "rudimentary, archaic, primitive."

The artist's fascination with the dynamics of chaos and order is reflected in his choice of the collagraph printing technique. Combining intaglio and relief processes, collagraphy provides a freedom and versatility that Barton finds exciting. Collagraphers carve into their printing matrix, but they also adhere materials to the plate surface to build images in relief. Even the slightest variation in the texture of the plate's surface results in changes to the printed image.

(Allan Oliver, Onda Gallery, Portland OR)

Review: Issues in Science and Technology - Winter 2008

Barton's work deals with energy in a metaphysical sense, but this statement about his work makes it clear that what can be said about the concept of energy is also relevant to the practical generation and use of energy: "The inspiration of my recent work is rotation. It is the defining force and the focus of energy. All parts of the images are affected by the spin. It provides movement and dynamism , it is the source of balance, stabilization, repetition, and order, but also represents consumption, disintegration, and disorder. Rotation is present all around us, in all things and processes on a microscopic as well as macroscopic scale."

(Work featured: Ancestor of Thought, Emergence of Disorder, Kiss of Elements, Original Center)